Chapter 190
Chapter 190
Clean Sweep (1)
Could this even be called a battle? The knights stared blankly up at the sky with exhausted, sickly expressions.
He was coming again. Would he stop this time, or would he pass by without stopping?
A hellish either-or choice. If they formed a defensive formation and pulled their output up to the maximum, Kairus would notice, halt his flight, then shatter the formation with Swift Blade and charge.
If they disliked that and conserved their output while maintaining the formation, then this time he would simply crash into them and smash the formation apart.
‘At least no one has died yet.’
While they were lost in deliberation, Kairus was also assessing the condition of his enemies. He had never intended to kill from the beginning. If he had intended to kill, there would have been no need to fight like this.
“What now, shall we continue?!”
This time there was neither Swift Blade nor a charge. After landing, Kairus reduced the output of Veil of Plumed Mist and shouted toward them.
The knights, their faces drained of color, examined one another’s wretched states. Here and there, a few with broken bones, others whose arms or legs were bent at grotesque angles, came into view.
And they saw themselves as well—covered in dirt, trembling from exhaustion. Their shaking legs looked like those of newborn fawns.
“If we continue, people will start dying from this point on.”
Kairus spoke in a cold voice. It was a clear warning, and unlike their first encounter, the knights were taking it with deadly seriousness this time.
‘If we continue here….’
Someone would die. Someone certainly would. It could be himself, or it could be a comrade who had fought alongside him in the same order.
People’s gazes turned toward Gemini. Gemini felt those stares as well. They were looks that clearly carried something they wanted to say.
‘Declare surrender.’
It was obvious they did not want to say it themselves.
‘You led this, so the responsibility is yours as well.’
The one who had to declare surrender here was Gemini. If he stubbornly persisted any further, then the knights would each begin declaring surrender on their own.
In the end, Kairus was far stronger than they had imagined.
Gemini had built up his reputation and skill so faithfully that he was even mentioned as the next knight captain, yet with a single wrong decision, he was about to become a fool who could not even take responsibility for his own actions.
“I… will surrender.”
Kairus smiled faintly, swung his sword once through the air with a swish, and then sheathed it.
“It would’ve been nice if you’d done that from the start. No one would’ve gotten hurt.”
Gemini did not respond to Kairus’s words. Veil of Plumed Mist had simply been too powerful. That was what Gemini was thinking.
If it were judged purely on raw skill, there was no way he would lose. It was a thought that naturally came to Gemini.
His ability had been acknowledged by many people.
“It’s an incredible battle gear, far beyond what I expected. It’s worthy of being called the symbol of the family.”
New Elements and Characters
Kairus could not possibly have missed the meaning hidden within those words. He let out a laugh. “Hahaha.”
“Sorry, but you wouldn’t even be able to beat Irena.”
At Kairus’s words, one of the knights made an incredulous expression.
“Irena? You mean Irena Kellogg? She’s an apprentice knight.”
Among so many knights, it would have been stranger if none belonged to the Scarlet Leaf Order. The knight who reacted like that knew Irena Kellogg.
However, the Irena Kellogg he remembered was the one from before she met Kairus.
“She doesn’t even properly know how to handle her battle gear. She has a time lag, for heaven’s sake.”
Kairus, who had been listening, clicked his tongue. It seemed that Irena Kellogg’s reputation within the Scarlet Leaf Order was not particularly good.
‘She must’ve had a rough time of it too.’
She had joined the order to avoid an unwanted marriage, yet she had not been recognized. Having a long time lag meant that the limits of her growth were painfully clear.
“The chances that my assessment is wrong are low.”
He had no intention of wasting time arguing over something like this. After making that short remark, Kairus changed the subject again.
“And you said your name was Gemini? You seem fairly confident in your own skill, but you’re not that exceptional.”
Gemini’s body flinched for a moment. Since he had already declared surrender, even if he felt displeased with Kairus’s words, he could not grab onto them and argue. In any case, possessing good battle gear was also one measure of skill.
“I’ll have the tail feathers prepared. We lost, so you may take them.”
Anyone listening would think Kairus was being robbed of the tail feathers. In truth, he was the one taking them.
He was claiming that an item properly purchased with money was originally his and taking it back. From the other side’s perspective, it was no different from robbery.
But only the strong were ever in a position to voice grievances.
“Why? Want to make it fair with battle gear and have another round?”
Kairus casually tossed the suggestion at Gemini, who still looked dissatisfied.
“If you’ll do that!”
Gemini shouted toward Kairus, his eyes gleaming fiercely. Kairus answered with a crooked grin.
“Why would I? If you feel wronged, go buy yourself new battle gear.”
It was an obvious statement, but there was absolutely no reason for Kairus to do him such a favor. They said you only knew who was taller by standing side by side, but Kairus already knew the result.
‘I win.’
Even if the conditions were the same, there was no possibility that Kairus would lose to Gemini. Of course, Gemini, whose skill was still shallow, would not realize it—but Kairus, standing at a higher level, knew.
If the conditions of their battle gear were equal, the only ones who might give Kairus a chance of losing would be the current Irena or Nora. Even then, perhaps only about forty percent.
However, Irena was completely on Kairus’s side, and Nora belonged to Lunaseeker.
If the two of them joined forces and rushed him together, even Kairus could not be confident. Of course, that was under the assumption that he did not use Veil of Plumed Mist.
“Just bring the tail feathers already.”
Here, Kairus had toyed with seventy young members of the order.
He had also succeeded in obtaining what he wanted. It was far more certain and faster than going into a factory and pulling out the tail feathers himself.
If it had ended neatly here, that would have been the case.
“Kairus Featherwing, is that right? Hello!”
Instead of answering, Kairus sharply twisted his waist and swung Veil of Plumed Mist.
A dull sound rang out. What collided with Veil of Plumed Mist was…
‘A shoe? What the hell kind of shoe is this.’
It was a shoe decorated with a golden buckle. With a hiss of propulsion, Kairus slid straight back.
The one who had attacked Kairus was a woman with snow-white short hair.
“C-Captain?!”
Hope flashed in Gemini’s eyes for a brief moment. Meanwhile, Kairus’s expression slightly hardened.
There was only one person whom members of the White Heron Order would call Captain.
“Dorothy Evergreen.”
All knight captains were famous, so Kairus knew her as well. A woman who insisted on a perverse fighting style that used only her legs and never her fists.
Around her shoes, pitch-black cracks repeatedly formed and vanished. Even at a glance, they looked ominous. And yet, her face appeared so relaxed it seemed she might yawn at any moment.
“Young man, it’s an imperial command~ As for the contents… was I told not to say?”
For an instant, Kairus flinched. He almost burst into anger, but soon smiled and answered instead.
“I didn’t expect His Majesty the Emperor’s mercy to reach even a commoner like me.”
The Emperor was not here. If he were to have a fit just at hearing the word Emperor, that would no longer be vengeance but the realm of madness.
“Riiight. Sure. Whatever.”
At that moment, Kairus tried to soar into the sky. She had told him to go all out, so naturally he intended to do exactly that.
His opponent was a knight captain. There was no way he could win with playful tricks like before.
“That won’t do~”
His opponent was a knight captain. She did not stand idly by watching Kairus attempt to take flight.
Bang! With a sonic boom, a kick flew straight toward Kairus’s chest. It was a strike with the toes fully extended, resembling a thrust.
As he hurriedly tried to change direction to evade, Dorothy’s leg coiled around his neck like a snake.
Then, as she tightly grabbed her own ankle with her hand, her legs locked around Kairus’s neck like a padlock.
“How is it? People usually love this.”
Without waiting for an answer, her remaining leg drove a knee strike straight into Kairus’s temple.
Boom! With a thunderous explosion, Kairus’s body staggered for a moment. It was a blow powerful enough to shatter a boulder in a single hit, but thanks to the output of Veil of Plumed Mist, he somehow managed to endure it.
“People love it? I’m about to die here….”
Before he could even counterattack, Dorothy clamped Kairus’s head tightly between her thighs, flipped her body, and hurled him straight into the ground.
Kairus, who had been ascending, plummeted. Just before his head struck the earth, he succeeded in breaking his fall.
The instant he absorbed the impact, Kairus raised his sword. Dorothy’s downward smash collided with Veil of Plumed Mist, and the ground beneath Kairus’s footing sank deep.
“Your legs are very beautiful.”
“Thank you. I think design matters for weapons too. Pretty is better, isn’t it?”
Just as he tightened his grip on the sword to push Dorothy away, Kairus felt something at the back of his neck. He stopped moving.
The top of Dorothy’s foot was hooked behind his head like some kind of claw. If he had pushed forward as he was, he would have ended up driving his own body with his own strength.
“What a shame.”
Her foot was still hooked around the back of his neck. Dorothy pulled that leg while fully extending the other.
The sole of her shoe came right up to Kairus’s face. In that instant, Kairus thrust his head forward and slammed his forehead into the sole.
Before the impact could reach its maximum force, he reversed it and pushed back instead.
With a shockwave, Dorothy’s body was flung backward. She skipped across the ground several times like a stone on water before correcting her posture and landing cleanly.
“….”
She stood on her left leg alone, her right leg lifted. The raised right leg was completely relaxed, swaying back and forth like a pendulum.
Yet her left leg stood firm, as if it had been driven into the ground.
“Not coming? Is flying the only trick you’ve got….”
Instead of answering, Kairus shot forward with a roar of turbines. A violent gale swept in as his sword relentlessly targeted Dorothy.
Even Dorothy, who had looked tired until moments ago, hardened her expression and moved her legs.
She showed no intention of using her left leg. She was dealing with Kairus using only the raised right one.
“So that’s why the nickname.”
White Heron Order Captain, Clean Sweep Dorothy.
Unlike the Red Comet or Quickblade, he had thought it was a rather unimpressive nickname.
‘She’s not holding back.’
Dorothy was going all out.
Each high-speed right kick that flew at him was as heavy as a battering ram, yet at the same time as fast as a volley of arrows fired by dozens of men.
“….”
But Kairus focused less on the right foot, which was simultaneously unleashing a storm of strikes and defense, and more on her left leg.
‘That’s the real strike.’
As if she had read his thoughts, with a sharp tak, Dorothy’s right leg dropped to the ground and her left leg lifted.
Just as he braced himself and drew up strength to withstand the impact—
“?!”
Tak—another sharp sound. The raised left leg came down again, and her right leg swung toward Kairus’s flank.
As he lifted his sword to block, the right leg that had been aiming for his side twisted at a bizarre angle and slammed down onto his knee instead.
“What the— damn foot!”
Before he could even fully process what had happened, tak, tatak—her legs continued to lift and fall without pause.
‘I’ve been drawn in.’
If he lost the initiative at this distance in this way, the aftermath would not be favorable.
Kairus generated a fierce wind and widened the distance between them.
“Does it hurt? I hope it does.”
As she retreated, Dorothy drove her left leg into the ground and kicked upward.
Ignoring the fragments of stone flying toward him, Kairus became certain.
‘Her gaze is wrong.’
He could not tell where she was looking. And in the middle of that, she kept switching legs and layering feints without rest, pulling Kairus into her rhythm.
“So, is that everything you wanted to show me?”
Kairus spoke toward Dorothy, who now stood still. He had taken a few hits, but none severe enough to be called injuries.
At his words, she smiled faintly.